Welsh Auto Insurer With New Innsbrook Office Offering Services Soon

Admiral Americas, who recently opened an office in Innsbrook, will offer auto insurance to Virginia motorists late this year or in early 2010, according to a story in WalesOnline. The insurance company, with headquarters recently established in Richmond, is the U.S. arm of Welsh-based Admiral Insurance. The company is the third largest auto insurer in […]

July 2, 2009; 12:17 PM • by Al Harris

Admiral Americas, who recently opened an office in Innsbrook, will offer auto insurance to Virginia motorists late this year or in early 2010, according to a story in WalesOnline.

The insurance company, with headquarters recently established in Richmond, is the U.S. arm of Welsh-based Admiral Insurance. The company is the third largest auto insurer in the United Kingdom.

WalesOnline reports the Richmond office has 19 employees under the command of 35-year-old Andrew Rose, a graduate of the University of Virginia Darden School of Business who worked for companies such as Capital One and Countrywide before landing the job with Admiral.

The company said in a press release in March that they planned to hire as many as 50 employees through the third quarter.

According to the article, the company will roll out its insurance products in Virginia first before expanding to other states.

While Richmond is the latest home for the insurance carrier, the company’s Welsh roots are not played down at their 26,000-square-foot Innsbrook office.

From the article:

And for a Welsh company to be investing in the US and creating jobs, instead of a US company announcing inward investment into Wales, is unusual, admitted Mr Rose.

“We have the Welsh flag hanging in our lobby, all the staff ID cards are having the Welsh flag on them. Wales is part of our heritage and we are proud of that.”

Admiral Americas is in the process of branding itself with a new name, Rose told WalesOnline they have narrowed it down to a couple choices from a list of over a 1,000 possibilities. The company held a naming contest to generate ideas, and has used focus groups to pare down the selection.

Admiral is apparently a fun place to work as well, as described in a companion article in WalesOnline:

Admiral is famous for the emphasis it places on staff having fun in the workplace; its ministry of fun, with a different department taking control each month, directing frivolities in the office.

In Virginia, it was a shock for some new staff members to find themselves being fired at with a foam gun by their boss. But the fun element is all about striking a balance with hard work, said Mr Rose.

Another fun tidbit about Admiral: To keep paper waste at a minimum, Rose instituted a policy that each employee must do one push up for each piece of paper that he or she prints in the office.

July 2, 2009 12:17 PM 0